Many people are familiar with the name of Alcoholics Anonymous, and many have a vague understanding that people go to Alcoholics Anonymous when they have a drink problem and hopefully they get sober and stay sober for the rest of their lives.
People may also be familiar with certain basic concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous such as the saying one day at a time, or the understanding that you can only deal with a problem once you have acknowledged that the problem exists.
The world of Alcoholics Anonymous is a very wide one, and is in many ways a bit of a subculture. Its importance lies perhaps in fact that for many people it is the first port of call if and when they recognise, or someone close to them recognises, that they have a seriously problem that they are unable or unwilling to do anything about.
Many people go directly to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, either willingly or unwillingly, and once exposed to the process of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting have an understanding, or a better understanding of what alcoholism is about, and/or what recovery from alcoholism involves.
The other way people are exposed to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous is when they enter a rehab for a treatment center. Whilst a rehab or a treatment center will have no direct links in terms of ownership or anything else with Alcoholics Anonymous most will have quite close ties with local Alcoholics Anonymous groups that crossover certain boundaries.
Alcoholics Anonymous
The majority of rehabs or treatment centers tend to offer what they refer to as addiction treatment programs which are normally based in part on the 12 step programme of recovery that Alcoholics Anonymous pioneered and lays claim to.
The rehab is likely to take certain aspects of the 12 step program and use elements of them in such a way as to be unique to themselves whilst enjoying the reputation of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Many rehabs refer to themselves as 12-step rehabs, meaning that they have a close affinity to the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous and support and endorse its use.
It may well be that the rehab has close links with local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and encourages or maybe insist that an individual whilst in rehab attends local meetings.
It may also be the case that meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous are held on the premises of the rehab or treatment center, and if this is the case it should be stressed that these meetings are still completely independent of the rehab, they are simply using its venue as a basis for hosting the meetings and will pay them an appropriate rent for such use.